Minor Rant Questions about QSF

[Duncan Edwards]

I've been party to some recent offline discussion with a few claiming to be disaffected QSF members who say they don't like the way QSF is "dominated" by video producers. Since they set it up and maintain it I think I can understand why the producers might feel a bit entitled to maintain a producer-centric board. If you think back across the years I don't recall a quicksand/mud related site that has done more to foster creativity or provide a stable place for us to meet and enjoy. I have pointed out to others that they are free to go to other places or create one of their own but their lack of motivation makes me believe they just like to complain.

I realize I might be opening a bucket of worms here but does anyone feel this way? Let's keep it friendly but realize that I'm probably going to be the one arguing with you most of the time. Be prepared to substantiate your assertions.

[duuudeization]

No complaints from me...I never thought of it as producer-dominated, but even if it is, hey, theyre the ones doing most of the legwork and providing the most and best quality stuff. Besides...no one is making anyone stay on here.

[kham]

To paraphrase Malcolm Tucker, it's hard to respond to said whiners without sounding -or posting -like a hairy-assed docker after a dozen pints....

We have a multitude of forums, broken down into sub-forums, which outnumber the ones for production stuff. How the fucking hell that is producer-centric goes into the realm of retarded stupidity. Not to mention, just plain whinage.

[bart1997]

Hmm, that's a strange complaint.

It's the producers who produce that constant great inflow of new videos and pictures with girls in mud and peat and clay and sand and whatever. Some models are even here and talk to their fans. And there is a equally large section for the user-created material like all these drawings, stories and art. It could not be better i think.

I myself am not THAT interested in the content the professional producers do post here, although i do buy some scenes from time to time and are happy to comment and suggest scenes. I'm more interested in the general discussion topics from real sinkers in the real stuff, but it's only a handful of people who are as eager as me regarding real sinking.

What worries me is the great number of members at this board, it's more than 8000 now including multiple bots from all those search engines. Really active are maybe 50? 100? members.
If i had a wish i would like to have a more private section (accessible via invitation) for topics like more private questions or perhaps mud-places nearby.

[PM2K]

I find that sort of complaint baffling to say the least.
If some folks feel producers are "dominating" things here, it is because they produce the content most folks tend to comment on.

I personally never felt that. This place has remained very open and encouraging to those creating content through stories, pictures, fakery etc. as well as comments on all topics, so I really don't get the nature of the complaint... unless there's folks determined to stir things up for some reason.

[Duncan Edwards]

I find that sort of complaint baffling to say the least... unless there's folks determined to stir things up for some reason.

You've hit on something there but it might bias the discussion to bring it up right now.

[Green Heart]

I really want to know where this came from, myself.

[Chimerix]

Looking back at Duncan's original post, I end up with three questions.
1. Is QSF producer-dominated?
2. If so, is that a problem?
3. How would a person likely become a "disaffected member?"

1. Is this a producer-dominated forum? While I wouldn't have chosen the word "dominated," to me, the answer is "yes." I use a two-standard test in arriving at this answer. Why do I come here? Would the forum survive if the producers were to pull out?
1.A. Why do I come here? Lots of reasons, but the very first thing I do every visit is to check the new posts to see if there's new quicksand media available. Although this does include things in non-producer forums, such as nuggets, comics, and user-submitted original material, my focus is definitely on the producers. After I've checked on that, I move on to matters of community, interest, etc.
1.B. Would the forum survive without the producers? Looking at what happened to DS, and looking at the various other mud/quicksand forums and sites that have sprung up over the years, I think this place would limp along, but be a pale image of its former glory.

2. Is the forum being producer-dominated a problem? I don't think so. We've got an awful lot of freedom here to read and write what we want where we want. If I didn't want to see something from a producer's forum, it's a simple matter not to click the thread. Admittedly, when I visit the index page, everything above the fold is a producer forum. I suppose if I never visited those, it might be annoying to have to scroll down, but personally, I go straight to the "View Unread Posts" button. I only visit a specific forum if I'm looking for a specific thing.

3. How would a person likely become a "disaffected member?" Again, using myself as the only reasonable yardstick, what drives me away from a forum are the other users. If there are a few people who I really dislike, and they happen to be quite active, it sullies my experience and I start avoiding the forum. Or, at the very least, my participation goes way down. So if there were a person here who was a producer or an admin, and that person was an active member of the community, and I really didn't like that person, then yeah, I have a problem. But the problem isn't "producer-dominated," the problem is "I don't like Bob, but Bob is everywhere, and he has power." So maybe I go all politically motivated and try to make my cause more global. Rather than raising a "Down with Bob" banner, knowing lots of people seem to actually like the asshole, I turn myself into the representative of a disenfranchised minority.

I probably could have been more eloquent, but I think my perspective is there.

[Fred588]

Reminds me the concept of the unbirthday, in a sense. Sorta. If we allow for the 8000 members number to be off by a factor of say, 8 times, then the producers are STILL outnumbered about 200 to 1. If it appears the discussion is dominated by the producers maybe the truth is the rest of the membership is just being submissive (or passive). Just because something is asserted does not make it so. Personally, I would be delighted to see more traffic from everyone.

I have seen a touch of the same sort (sorta) of complaint in the chat room from time to time. There the complaint is that no one comes in. However, most of those who raise that complaint, and there have not been many, do not generally stay in the chat for very long. Its as if they expect to have a crowd of people just waiting for them to come in but they are unwilling to hang around until someone else does come in. It has been said that we live in a world of instant gratification.

[kham]

Performing an Order-66 -type purge would be fairly simple, I've seen other forums do it yearly; generally they get referred to as The Zero Post Purge. Sufficient notification is given, and sufficient time for actual living humans to prove they are indeed still alive. But, then, in nice Dalek-ian fashion, the zeros are exterminated.

Because lets face the facts; too many gimmees just want free shit and can't be bothered to even say thanks, never mind purchase anything